Urinary iodide excretion, thyroid volumes and TSH serum concentrations in adults in West Pomerania

H. Zöllner, G. Franke, M. Piek, H. Below, H.-J. Rose, A. Kramer, Greifswald

To learn about the iodine status in adults, thyroid sizes , iodide excretion in spontaneous urinary samples and TSH serum concentrations were determined in a random sample of 4.310 women and men between 20 and 81 years of age within the frame-work of an epidemiological study ‘Life and Health in West Pomerania‘ (SHIP).

The median iodide content was 12.4 µg iodide/dl urine (women 11.2 µg/dl, men 13.5 µg/dl); 11.1 % only have been found to excrete less than 5 µg iodide/dl urine. Women excrete significantly less iodide than men. An influence of milk or fish consumption on the iodine status has not been found.

The median thyroid size was 15.7 ml for women and 22.4 ml for men. The limit of 18 ml was exceeded in 803 women (36.9%), that of 25 ml in 808 men (38.5%). The median serum TSH of all test persons was 0.66 mU/l (women 0.68 mU/l, men 0.65 mU/l). According to the definitions by the International Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD), West Pomerania is not an area of iodine deficiency among adults.

The continued presence of enlarged thyroid volumes and increased concentrations of TSH in a large percentage of test persons can be explained by the above mentionned iodine deficiency situation.

To safeguard the generally positive situation, iodine must be introduced with iodine salt into the whole food chain with the support of the food industry.

Keywords: Iodine deficiency / urinary iodide excretion / thyroid volume / thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)

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